Kyusu Teapot 342

porcelain, 250 ml

Kyusu teapot (side handle) with dark green glaze, inner stainless sieve enables to prepare more infurions.

Kyusu Teapots
In Japan, sencha (green tea) is traditionally prepared in small clay teapots, so called kyusu (side handle) or shiboridashi (without handle). They are simple and elegant. Inside, there is a fine sifter connected to the spout, which allows to prepare more infusions. Teapots of this type are made from green and red clay according to original procedures; they are not glazed, but very finely polished. Nowadays, they are produced in very few traditional potteries in Japan. Modern Japanese teaware offers these simple polished teapots as well as a huge variety of glazed and painted pieces.

Generally, the higher the quality of the tea, the smaller the teapot should be. And vice versa, the smaller the teapot, the higher the quality of tea we can prepare in it.
 

Preparation of Japanese green teas
The taste of the infused tea is influenced by many factors. Water quality and temperature, teaware used, quantity of steeped tea and brewing time. Use boiled water to warm the teaware, thereby cooling down the water. Put tea in a preheated teapot. For a common Japanese kyusu teapot of 150 - 250 ml, use approx. 7g of tea. Pour in water cooled down to about 70°C and steep for one minute, then pour tea into preheated cups. Use water of the same temperature for next infusions, but pour tea into cups after several seconds. However, this method of preparation is a mere recommendation. Feel free to experiment and find your own method.
For top quality teas, it is possible to brew more tea (10 - 15 g) in a small 80 - 100ml teapot with water cooled down to 40 - 50°C, let steep for 5 minutes. Then pour tea drops in miniature cups. This produces a completely different taste, than with the usual method of preparation. Several infusions can be prepared in the same way, only increase the water temperature by 5°C for each subsequent infusion.